(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has urged Kuwaiti Information Minister Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahd Al-Sabah to withdraw his threats against foreign journalists based in Kuwait who pass information onto Israeli news media. The organisation also asked him to ensure that visas and accreditation are issued promptly to Israeli journalists who request them. “Despite the lack of diplomatic relations […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has urged Kuwaiti Information Minister Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahd Al-Sabah to withdraw his threats against foreign journalists based in Kuwait who pass information onto Israeli news media. The organisation also asked him to ensure that visas and accreditation are issued promptly to Israeli journalists who request them.
“Despite the lack of diplomatic relations between Israel and Kuwait, it is unthinkable that Israeli news media should suffer as a result of international tension and be prevented from using reports supplied by other media,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to the information minister. “Kuwait would bring credit upon itself if it were to cease discriminating against Israeli media and journalists, which prevents the free flow of information,” Ménard added.
On 8 March 2003, the Kuwaiti authorities cautioned foreign media against cooperating with Israeli news media, threatening journalists with legal action if they did not heed the warning. According to the United States authorities, about 1,000 journalists from around the world have been accredited with the allied forces stationed in Kuwait, but there are no Israeli journalists among them.
